I know there's already a long, long thread about the lost motion spring recall, but I want to post some issues in a new thread so they get some visibility. Accessing the valvetrain on the Fit requires removing the black plastic cowling at the base of the windshield, as well as the wipers. We had the recall work done on both of our '09 Fits yesterday, and both have issues with that cowl. I'm posting so others can take a close look at their Fits to ensure you don't have similar issues.

The #1 issue is that the cowl consists of an upper and lower half that appears to snap together with clips molded into the upper part. The first picture shows that one of our Fits now has all of these clips broken and there's a gap between the upper and lower halves of the cowl. That cowl is also the airbox where outside air is drawn in for A/C and ventilation, so the gap means some air from the engine compartment will now get pulled in too (not good!). The second picture shows the other Fit with the clips intact and no gap. There are more clips not shown in the photo. Our "bad" Fit has all clips broken, the "good" one has two broken.



Good Clips:


Issue #2 is that the plastic trim piece at each corner at the base of the windshield is now scratched up on the "good" Fit. The scratches are actually worse than the photo makes them look. There are also some white stains in the photo - that's just car polish residue.



Issue #3 is that a plastic push-button fastener was missing on the "good" Fit. These fasteners have been mentioned in the other recall thread. I actually took a few pictures before the work was done (I never expected I would need them....), so here's a picture of the fastener in question. There's one on each side of the car. I don't have a photo showing the hole with the missing fastener.



The last issue, also mentioned in the other thread is that the wipers were positioned at slightly different angles after the recall work. Ours were too and I fixed those myself.

I've already contacted the dealer to arrange to get things corrected, and we'll see how that goes. But an equally big concern is that if they did such a poor job on the items I can see, who knows about the quality of the parts of the job I can't see. I can say that the "good" Fit has had a very, very slightly noisy valvetrain since new (it only has 12K miles now), and it's now quieter. I haven't driven the other Fit yet.

I hope these photos will help others know about some things to look for.

(Yes, those are kayaks and windsurfer masts in the first photo, along with a long pole saw made from a windsurfer mast - gotta have toys!)

UPDATE 04/07/2011: The replacement cowls for both Fits came in a few days ago, and we dropped off the Fits at the dealer this evening to have them installed. While there, my wife mentioned that her windshield wiper had been rattling. I checked the wiper pivot point on the drivers side, and it turns out that the whole wiper assembly (motor, arms, linkages, both wipers) seems to be floating around loose. Something wasn't bolted down inside the cowl. Checking the second Fit, everything was tight. So this is yet another problem to be watchful for. FYI, the Fit with the loose wiper assembly is the one with the more badly hacked up cowl. Whoever re-assembled this cowl after the LMS work must have really had his/her mind on something else.

UPDATE 04/09/2011: We picked up the two cars with new cowls yesterday afternoon. Everything looks and works great based on initial inspection. One of the Fits had developed a very, very slight tick-tick sound when running for the first minute or so after a cold start. I asked the dealer to note it and have a trusted tech give it a listen after they had let the car sit overnight. I didn't push for or demand a valve adjustment, but I think the service manager could easily sense that I was a lot more concerned about being able to trust the valve work over the long haul than I was with the visible cowl issues. Anyway, he chose to have his "best tech" do a valve adjustment on both cars and the service write-ups show 1.6 and 1.9 hours for valve adjustment on the two Fits. Both cars sound good, but final judgment will be after the engines have gone through several heat/cool cycles.

Through this process, I've been much more concerned about having confidence in the engine work than the plastic. However, the cowl pieces now show that someone took care to do the job right. The plastic pieces line up nicely and everything is clean and new looking (no car wash though - these Fits only get hand washed). Based on that, plus the dealer redoing the valve adjustment, I no longer have a lingering doubt that the engine work was as much of a hack job as the original cowls and wipers.

This shouldn't have happened in the first place, but I'm happy with the way the service manager handled the issue.

UPDATE 04/09/2011, later that same day....
It's car washing day which led to finding one more thing to watch for. When you open the hood, there are four black rubber bumpers that the hood should rest on when its closed (they look like upside-down rubber stoppers for a flask). I discovered one of those was missing, probably knocked loose by the service tech leaning over the front of the car. Fortunately, it was lying in a recess in the upper grill housing so I could just press it back in place.

In this photo, the bumpers are circled. The one closest to the square was lying in the square:

 

Very informative. Thanks. With issues posted here from you and other owners who had the recall work done, I am a little leery about having it done on mine.

 

I just took pictures on my Fit in case they do that kind of damage to me.

 

Very helpful information Ultrawolf! +rep to you.

My 2010 Sport thankfully isn't part of the recall, but this is definitely a useful resource for this forum. Just another reminder to go over your car with a fine-toothed comb before AND after bringing it to the dealer for service.

I'm not liking that gap in the first pic . I hope the dealer does right by you.

 

subscribed...getting mine done next week...have to keep an eye out

 

I'm just going to take the cowl off before going in. Problem solved.

 

I will be taking mine in this coming Tuesday,will "forewarn" the service rep that I will be looking for this not to happen with my car!!!

 

The gap is caused in part by one of the four broken clips being jammed between the upper and lower pieces. I could remove it, but I want the dealer to see it that way.

 

My wife is bringing her Fit in on the 23rd to have the recall done. I wont be able to have a good look at it until around the 28th. I am hoping AutoFair Honda does a good job in both the recall and the cowling. Don't the techs have step by step instructions on how to do this properly without destroying the cowling???? Ill tell you what...,if Techs are destroying the cowl on doing this work, Honda is going to have a bigger problem replacing all these cowls than with the actual recall. Hers will go right back into the shop for a new cowl

 

If you delay some to take your car in for the recall, all the techs at each dealer will learn the tricks and correct way to remove and install the plastic without breaking the tabs. Of course that means someone else will be the guinea pig.

I would not accept any of this. Not even the scratches. If they try and mask them with black plastic conditioner don't accept. You will still be able to feel the scratches and after 6-12 months the conditioner will wear off and scratches will re-appear.

_

 

The scratches are quite deep so there's no way I'll accept any attempt to mask them.

It's too bad the dealer did such a poor job here, because this dealer has been good in other areas. They took good care of me during cash-for-clunkers, including paying me the scrap value on my clunker which many people didn't get. And their service writer, Jay, has been excellent in getting us set up to do both Fits on the same day with a free loaner car to minimize the hassle factor. But the quality of their service work is sure in question now.

 

Quote for Truth!
If you think you're entitled to a perfect job, do it yourself.
I like you.

 

ultrawolf for president!

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Actually, now that I think about it, that gap shouldn't be there even with broken clips. In the past when I've broken the clips without repairing them the cowl would still go into place just fine. Usually I get that gap when the two rubber extensions on the side, the ones that slide in right next to the hinge, get hung up. Either that or one of the weak blue clips that keep the cowl attached to the sheet metal under the windshield has broken and is wedged under there. I also don't understand the scratches on the little plastic attachment. I have popped that thing off tens of times and never scratched it. They probably tried to pull it off while the hood was fully open...

 

Just checked my car; clips are all in place, everything looks clean, but there is a scratch on the top of the cowl, but not terrible enough to bring it in.

 

what do you personally use to "un-clip" the clips?

wouldn't the honda dudes have a tool specifically for those clips?

 

The service manual says to detach the clips, 'pull the windshield edge of the cowl cover upward" literraly you just pull up until they pop out, problem is a few always break.

 

if they can't even put those back in properly... how do you think they did in the engine??? my crosstour that broke a valve and took the shortblock with it is never running right... in and back to service the 4th time in 4 weeks...

just a thought...

 

lol. wow.

just waiting for someone to post the most annoying cliche used on this forum... "well you bought an econo box, what do you expect?"


btw, my local honda service dept told me they've done between "50 and 100" recall fixes so far. hopefully they're getting good at it.

 

^^ econo or not... they use cheap clips and plastics... I have more clips and plastics that are broken on my crosstour than on my fit